Saturday, June 11, 2005
I'm in Vietnam! It's hot here. Read about hotness!
Hello from Vietnam! Here I am, 3:30 pm, Saturday June 11th, writing from Phang Rang, the city my grandparents and cousin/uncle are living. So, I’ll start with a procedural post, followed by a david/point form style post, followed by trivia questions.
So we touch down at the Vietnam airport, and eventually we make it outside. It was like being a celebrity, because outside there were maybe 200-300 people, waiting for people to arrive. It was crazy, so many people in such a small space. Anyway, after a few seconds my dad found our contacts, several of his old highschool friends, whom he hasn’t seen in 33 years.
It was about midnight, and then we got into this 12 seater van, which only has 3 seatbelts at the front. That was perfect. A tour of the country, in a van that looked like something my dad might’ve driven 30 years ago. Anyway, so the plan was to drive from Ho chi minh city, the city of our arrival, to Phang Rang. So we drove for a while, and I took in some of the scenery, although it was midnight already. Run-down buildings, cheap buildings, dirt and sand, lots of motorcycles in the streets. Overall, pretty under-developed.
So we drove, while my dad and his friends chatted; about old times, new times, what’s new in Vietnam, what’s hot in Canada, all in Vietnamese. Duy and I, we were in the back, dozing off. We stopped at a few places along the way, had some food, and eventually after 6 hours of driving and 2 hours of eating, we arrived at Phang Rang. We got in, met our relatives, and then eventually it was off to bed with us; while we did sleep in the car, we still wanted more sleep.
I said last time, that we would live like Kings when we’re here. We could… I guess… so far, transportation is pretty cheap, and food is pretty cheap. Had a good 6-person breakfast the other day for $5, and some good, luxury restaurant meals are like $25 for 5 people. You can buy icecream for 50 cents, or a good glass of watermelon juice for 70 cents. So it’s not bad.
Everyone travels by motorcycle; some have cars, there are taxis too; some have trucks; and some have regular bikes. At intersections, there are no stop signs; everyone just slows down, looks both ways, and proceeds through if it is safe to do so. Now, you don’t honk the horn becomes someone’s cutting you off or about to hit you. Here, taxis honk the horn in a kind of “look at me” or “notice me” way; they honk as they’re about to overtake someone, so the people in front of them know to look in their mirror, and drift to the left or right, or else they’ll get owned by the taxi.
It’s really hot here. It’s 11 hours ahead of you guys, which is a bit weird because we’re so close to HK and Singapore; 2 hour flight from HK. My dad doesn’t understand it either. Also, I think we’re closer to the equator, so for some reason, 6am feels like 9am, and 7pm feels like 10pm.
So far… Vietnam is pretty… well, it’s underdeveloped, and very hot. Shopping isn’t big here, and there aren’t too many attractions here in Phang Rang. It’s very… relaxing here. Chillax, all that we do all day. Every now and then we take a taxi out, and I noticed we might spend 20 minutes there, and then come back home.
So… do I like it here, or do I want to go home? For this question, I have devised four points of view.
I want to go home. It’s hot, pretty boring, not much to do; I’d rather be at home, comfortable, hanging out with friends, talking about and discussing and playing with the things we’ve bought. I hear it’s dangerous here, can’t trust too many people. I can’t speak the language very well either. It’s no good. That’s point 1.
It’s okay – I don’t need to go home just yet. If necessary, I can just stay in my room, where it’s pretty hot, but I can endure it, and just sleep or read or something. I’ve done something similar in Waterloo before, during the summer, or during the later parts of the Winter term. I can endure it, so stop complaining. That’s point 2.
Carpe Diem! Seize the day; I’m only in Vietnam once, so go out and experience it. Or stay in and experience it, either way. It’s a good experience, to see another way of life, another culture. So stay here, be hot, and try to endure living in such an underdeveloped place. That’s point 3.
And point 4 is a partially corporate part of me, that wants to stay so I can take pictures and video, of this experience, and share it with the rest of you. I do like experiences, and I tie them together with memory, and to be able to keep a digital copy of these memories would be quite good.
So… Vietnam is okay. It’s a new experience, so I think I’ll stay here for a while. It’s an interesting place to visit, but I sure wouldn’t like to live here.
And now for a partially point form post… In a David style. That is, when David is tired, sometimes he writes these point form posts, that seem, a bit more, majestic, or say, poetic, and thus better than if he had written lengthy paragraphs on the topic. For example, he’d say
Just a couple moments I remember from today:
- seeing a couple hold hands, so naturally
- the touch of significant other
- the feel of sunlight and a windy breeze
I like that. Poetic, ain’t it? And thus: Other points to note:
- Simple pleasures – lying on a bed, staring up at the ceiling, ceiling fan rotating at a pleasant rate – hot air, just a bit of sunlight passing through the window; could do this for hours
- The natural feeling of the motorcycle – such a real feeling, not like being in the passenger seat of a car – sitting on the back, behind my uncle, holding on to his shoulders – feeling of uncertainty, yet safety – very simple pleasure
- Scenic route he took me on the 2nd time I was on the bike – was nice. So hot, yet the wind was cool – bike ride at approx 50 kmh
- A touch back to olden days – familiar noise of a dial-up connection, connecting to the internet with the series of beeps and static noise
And… that’s it for the Vietnam post. Trivia:
1. Back in Singapore, someone sold me a magazine and gave me some free stuff. One of the things was sunflower oil. I looked at the back, and there was the nutritional information. How many grams of fat are there in 100 grams of Sunflower oil? If you know the answer, let others guess first.
2. In Japan, I was walked into some Hentai room and there was a poster of a model, and I noticed her name. First name first, it’s _ _ R _ _ / H _ R _ D _ . The three blanks in her last name are all occurrences of the same vowel, and the other 4 blanks in her first name are the 4 other vowels. Also, the 1st and 2nd vowels of her first name are consecutive (like AE) and the 3rd and 4th vowels of her first name are also consecutive (like IO). You can wrap around if you want, like UA.
3. Today I ate some food, although of each I ate less than a square inch, because each was covered in spices. One was G _ _ T; if you need help, try G _ A T. The other was O _ _ _ _ _ H.
4. Yes, in Japan, the best place ever was AKIHABARA. The first or second store I went to was G _ _ _ _ _. Isaque knew this right away, even with out the G-clue; the only other person who reads this blog that could get it is David.
5. ST-Y puzzle still unsolved.
6. Lastly, yesterday I had some D _ G and C _ T (just kidding :P )
Anywhooo… that’s about it for now. Time to take a short nap, and maybe my other people want their phone line back. For those people involved in the magic draft, keep checking your e-mail regularly. And…. That’s it for now!
Duy won a carbuncle!
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| Hello from Vietnam! Here I am, 3:30 pm, Saturday June 11th, writing from Phang Rang, the city my grandparents and cousin/uncle are living. So, I’ll start with a procedural post, followed by a david/point form style post, followed by trivia questions. So we touch down at the Vietnam airport, and eventually we make it outside. It was like being a celebrity, because outside there were maybe 200-300 people, waiting for people to arrive. It was crazy, so many people in such a small space. Anyway, after a few seconds my dad found our contacts, several of his old highschool friends, whom he hasn’t seen in 33 years. It was about midnight, and then we got into this 12 seater van, which only has 3 seatbelts at the front. That was perfect. A tour of the country, in a van that looked like something my dad might’ve driven 30 years ago. Anyway, so the plan was to drive from Ho chi minh city, the city of our arrival, to Phang Rang. So we drove for a while, and I took in some of the scenery, although it was midnight already. Run-down buildings, cheap buildings, dirt and sand, lots of motorcycles in the streets. Overall, pretty under-developed. So we drove, while my dad and his friends chatted; about old times, new times, what’s new in Vietnam, what’s hot in Canada, all in Vietnamese. Duy and I, we were in the back, dozing off. We stopped at a few places along the way, had some food, and eventually after 6 hours of driving and 2 hours of eating, we arrived at Phang Rang. We got in, met our relatives, and then eventually it was off to bed with us; while we did sleep in the car, we still wanted more sleep. I said last time, that we would live like Kings when we’re here. We could… I guess… so far, transportation is pretty cheap, and food is pretty cheap. Had a good 6-person breakfast the other day for $5, and some good, luxury restaurant meals are like $25 for 5 people. You can buy icecream for 50 cents, or a good glass of watermelon juice for 70 cents. So it’s not bad. Everyone travels by motorcycle; some have cars, there are taxis too; some have trucks; and some have regular bikes. At intersections, there are no stop signs; everyone just slows down, looks both ways, and proceeds through if it is safe to do so. Now, you don’t honk the horn becomes someone’s cutting you off or about to hit you. Here, taxis honk the horn in a kind of “look at me” or “notice me” way; they honk as they’re about to overtake someone, so the people in front of them know to look in their mirror, and drift to the left or right, or else they’ll get owned by the taxi. It’s really hot here. It’s 11 hours ahead of you guys, which is a bit weird because we’re so close to HK and Singapore; 2 hour flight from HK. My dad doesn’t understand it either. Also, I think we’re closer to the equator, so for some reason, 6am feels like 9am, and 7pm feels like 10pm. So far… Vietnam is pretty… well, it’s underdeveloped, and very hot. Shopping isn’t big here, and there aren’t too many attractions here in Phang Rang. It’s very… relaxing here. Chillax, all that we do all day. Every now and then we take a taxi out, and I noticed we might spend 20 minutes there, and then come back home. So… do I like it here, or do I want to go home? For this question, I have devised four points of view. I want to go home. It’s hot, pretty boring, not much to do; I’d rather be at home, comfortable, hanging out with friends, talking about and discussing and playing with the things we’ve bought. I hear it’s dangerous here, can’t trust too many people. I can’t speak the language very well either. It’s no good. That’s point 1. It’s okay – I don’t need to go home just yet. If necessary, I can just stay in my room, where it’s pretty hot, but I can endure it, and just sleep or read or something. I’ve done something similar in Waterloo before, during the summer, or during the later parts of the Winter term. I can endure it, so stop complaining. That’s point 2. Carpe Diem! Seize the day; I’m only in Vietnam once, so go out and experience it. Or stay in and experience it, either way. It’s a good experience, to see another way of life, another culture. So stay here, be hot, and try to endure living in such an underdeveloped place. That’s point 3. And point 4 is a partially corporate part of me, that wants to stay so I can take pictures and video, of this experience, and share it with the rest of you. I do like experiences, and I tie them together with memory, and to be able to keep a digital copy of these memories would be quite good. So… Vietnam is okay. It’s a new experience, so I think I’ll stay here for a while. It’s an interesting place to visit, but I sure wouldn’t like to live here. And now for a partially point form post… In a David style. That is, when David is tired, sometimes he writes these point form posts, that seem, a bit more, majestic, or say, poetic, and thus better than if he had written lengthy paragraphs on the topic. For example, he’d say Just a couple moments I remember from today: - seeing a couple hold hands, so naturally - the touch of significant other - the feel of sunlight and a windy breeze I like that. Poetic, ain’t it? And thus: Other points to note: - Simple pleasures – lying on a bed, staring up at the ceiling, ceiling fan rotating at a pleasant rate – hot air, just a bit of sunlight passing through the window; could do this for hours - The natural feeling of the motorcycle – such a real feeling, not like being in the passenger seat of a car – sitting on the back, behind my uncle, holding on to his shoulders – feeling of uncertainty, yet safety – very simple pleasure - Scenic route he took me on the 2nd time I was on the bike – was nice. So hot, yet the wind was cool – bike ride at approx 50 kmh - A touch back to olden days – familiar noise of a dial-up connection, connecting to the internet with the series of beeps and static noise And… that’s it for the Vietnam post. Trivia: 1. Back in Singapore, someone sold me a magazine and gave me some free stuff. One of the things was sunflower oil. I looked at the back, and there was the nutritional information. How many grams of fat are there in 100 grams of Sunflower oil? If you know the answer, let others guess first. 2. In Japan, I was walked into some Hentai room and there was a poster of a model, and I noticed her name. First name first, it’s _ _ R _ _ / H _ R _ D _ . The three blanks in her last name are all occurrences of the same vowel, and the other 4 blanks in her first name are the 4 other vowels. Also, the 1st and 2nd vowels of her first name are consecutive (like AE) and the 3rd and 4th vowels of her first name are also consecutive (like IO). You can wrap around if you want, like UA. 3. Today I ate some food, although of each I ate less than a square inch, because each was covered in spices. One was G _ _ T; if you need help, try G _ A T. The other was O _ _ _ _ _ H. 4. Yes, in Japan, the best place ever was AKIHABARA. The first or second store I went to was G _ _ _ _ _. Isaque knew this right away, even with out the G-clue; the only other person who reads this blog that could get it is David. 5. ST-Y puzzle still unsolved. 6. Lastly, yesterday I had some D _ G and C _ T (just kidding :P ) Anywhooo… that’s about it for now. Time to take a short nap, and maybe my other people want their phone line back. For those people involved in the magic draft, keep checking your e-mail regularly. And…. That’s it for now! Duy won a carbuncle! |